wives to the East, to the paternal country of Abraham, Padan-Aram, near Ur of the Chaldees; for while it is admitted, that Abraham had acquired the language of Canaan, it does not follow, that he had either forgotten his native tongue, or that he had not, in some degree, transmitted it to Isaac, and that Isaac had not transmitted it to Jacob. Still it is not improbable, that, during the twenty years' stay of Jacob in his father-inlaw Laban's house, he spoke the language of the place; and became as much familiar with that as with the language of Canaan: it seems very probable, I think, that he should have cultivated a further knowledge and practice of the language of this country; the country of his betrothed wife, the country where his heart was glad, where "seven years were as a few days." It is here to be recollected, that this was the birth-place of the twelve sons of Jacob: the original language of the Israelites was the same, therefore, or nearly the same, as that of Abraham.

But whether we yield to, or depart altogether from the opinion of Le Clerc and Stackhouse, that "The Hebrew tongue, instead of being the parent of all, was itself descended from that of Canaan," no doubt can possibly arise in our minds respecting the change or modification of the language of the Hebrews and Israelites during the period of 215 years, from the departure of Abraham out of the country of Ur of the Chaldees. This circumstance is, in some degree, corroborated by the passages in Gen. xxxi. 45, &c. respecting the covenant which was made between Laban and Jacob-" And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap, and they did eat there

upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegar-saha dutha: but Jacob called it Galeed, (the one is a Syriac, the other a Hebrew name: both having the same signification;" (Bishop Patrick;) that is, according to the marginal reference of the Bible, "the heap of witness." "Therefore was the name of it called Galeed (a heap), and Mizpah, (a beacon, or watch tower; marginal reference). It is, nevertheless, to be recollected, that the journey of Jacob to Padan-Aram, and his twenty years' stay there, tended very much to restore to him the original language of his grandfather, Abraham; but as alphabetical writing was not then invented, it is natural to conceive, that in proportion to the various relations of time, circumstance, and place, the language of the children of Israel, though a separate people, would be perpetually fluctuating.

CHAP. XII.

Causes of the fluctuation of language stated-language of the Israelites neither spoken nor generally understood in Egypt at the time of the famine the marriages of Joseph and Moses with Egyptian women→→→ the friendship which possibly subsisted between the Israelites and the Egyptians until the death of Joseph-the mixed multitude which departed from Egypt-the language in which the written law was promulgated on Mount Sinai different from the language of the original or former sons of Eber-from the time of the captivity the Hebrew ceased to be a living language.

LINGUISTS admit very generally that a living language is liable to various modifications; this is affirmed to be true even when the language has been spoken in its greatest purity, and protected by the efforts of classical writers: and we very well know that time, circumstance, and place, do occasion alterations-in all modern

languages. The propriety of consenting to this position will be felt by referring to the 12th chapter of Judges, the 5th and 6th verses, respecting the pronunciation of the sons of Ephraim. "And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so that when those Ephraimites which were escaped, said, let me go over, that the men of Gilead said unto him, art thou an Ephraimite? if he said, nay; then said they unto him, say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right." And certainly what is applicable to a written language, as the Hebrew, at the time when the Ephraimites quarrelled with Jeptha, must be equally so to a language which was not a written one,- -as that of the Hebrews and Israelites, before their deliverance from the Egyp→ tian bondage.

On these points, however, the sacred records are en→ tirely silent: hence all the opinions respecting them must be governed entirely by analogy. But one circumstance is well authenticated; and that is this;-the language of the children of Israel at the time of the famine in and about Egypt and Canaan, was not spoken or generally understood in Egypt. For when the chil dren of Israel went there to buy corn, and appeared before Joseph, he knew them, but made himself strange:" that is, he affected not to know them, but conversed with them by an interpreter. "If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of our prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses. But bring your youngest brother unto me, so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die."→→ "And they said one to another, We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of

his soul, when he besought us; and we would not hear: therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered and said, spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and ye would not hear? therefore behold, also, his blood is required." And then follows, "They knew not that Joseph understood them: for he spake unto them by an interpreter." Gen. xiii. 19 to 23. Compare Psalm lxxxi. 5. cxiv. 5.-The two-and-twenty years' residence, preparatory to this event, afforded Joseph ample time to be completely conversant and familiar with the Egyptian language: the acquirement of which was to him doubtless a matter of necessity: he was an utter stranger in the land; and, according to our annotators, his first office was of menial employ; but the Lord was with Joseph; and his master, seeing that the Lord was with him, made him overseer over all his house; "And all that he had he put into his hand." The wickedness and fury of a voluptuous and disappointed woman were the occasion of the sudden dismissal of Joseph, and of his being cast into prison.-And here we are required to adore the inscrutable ways of Providence: for, notwithstanding the most unpromising appearances which present themselves, and means, which, to us, seem oftentimes the most unfavourable, ends frequently are produced of the utmost vital consequence. Such exactly was the instance of the affliction of Joseph, of his being sold into Egypt, and finally cast into prison. The truth of this is confirmed from the results which followed; and which were occasioned by the power that enabled him to interpret the dreams of the two men in the prison; and, finally, that of Pharoah, which none of the magicians nor wise men could explain. "And Pharoah said unto Joseph,

of

Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and, according unto- thy word, shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphorah the priest, (or prince,) of On.— And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years famine came; and he called the name of the first-born Menasseh, (that is, forgetting,) for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim, (that is, fruitful,) for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." Gen. xli.-From this it may be safely inferred, I think, that the seeds of the Egyptian language were likely to be sown in the soil of that of the Israelites. The rank to which Joseph was raised, and the alliance which he had formed with the daughter of Potiphorah, the Egyptian prince, would naturally cause the language of Egypt to spread and identify itself, in some respects, with the language of the Israelites. It was, moreover, the native language of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim; and, possibly, was spoken by them and their respective families in an uncorrupted state for 76 years. And what is true of the language of the sons and grandsons of Manasseh, and "Ephraim's children of the third generation," is equally true of Moses and his generation. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; Acts vii. 22.; his very name was derived from the Egyptian language; for, according to Bryant and Calmet, Mo, or Mou, was the Egyptian for water. "Moses fled from the face of Pharoah, and dwelt in the land of Midian:"-a part of Arabia Pitrea, where some of Abraham's posterity, the